Modification of Multiple Sclerosis Phenotypes by African Ancestry at HLA.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In those with multiple sclerosis (MS), African American individuals have a more severe disease course, an older age at onset, and more often have clinical manifestations restricted to the optic nerves and spinal cord (opticospinal MS) than white persons.

Objective

To determine whether genetic variation influences clinical MS patterns.

Design

Retrospective multicenter cohort study.

Participants

Six hundred seventy-three African American and 717 white patients with MS.

Main outcome measures

Patients with MS were genotyped for HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 alleles. The proportion of European ancestry at HLA was estimated by genotyping single-nucleotide polymorphisms with known significant frequency differences in West African and European populations. Th

SUBMITTER: Cree BA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4334456 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature